Chandrachud's oral observations in 2022 have opened pandora's box: Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 is in the news these days because of certain oral observations made in 2022 by then Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud that have since opened a "pandora's box".

The Congress general secretary in-charge communications recalled a speech delivered in 1991 by distinguished author Rajmohan Gandhi, who was then a Janata Dal MP representing Uttar Pradesh, during a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the Bill that subsequently became the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act.

"On September 12, 1991, the Rajya Sabha debated the Bill that subsequently became the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. This is in the news very much these days because of oral observations made by the just-retired Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on May 20, 2022 that has since opened a Pandora's Box," Ramesh said in a post on X.

During that parliamentary debate, perhaps one of the greatest speeches in the Rajya Sabha's history was made by Gandhi, he said.

"It was a masterclass in Indian culture, traditions, history, and politics as well. His brilliant speech, with that lovely excerpt from the Mahabharata, has continuing relevance," Ramesh said.

The Congress leader also posted screenshots of Gandhi's speech, in which he said "those who have opposed this Bill have spoken about what they call necessary to right the wrongs of history".

"Not long ago, we all saw the Mahabharata serial. One great point in the Mahabharata serial is the end of the Kurukshetra war. One of our distinguished members, Mr R K Narayan, in his book on the 'Mahabharata' has said that at the end of the Kurukshetra war, the stage is a blank," Gandhi had said in the Rajya Sabha.

"The ringing lesson of the Mahabharata down the centuries is 'those who seek to right the wrongs of history with an attitude of revenge will only produce destruction and more destruction and more destruction'," Gandhi had said.

Amid a row over claims on a mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal and Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti's shrine in Rajasthan's Ajmer, the Congress on Friday reiterated its "firmest commitment" to the letter and spirit of the Places of Worship Act, which it said is being "violated brazenly" by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The opposition party made the assertion in a resolution passed by the Congress Working Committee during its over-four-hour-long meeting at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters here.

"After reiterating its firmest commitment to the letter and spirit of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which is being violated brazenly by the BJP, the CWC discussed the challenges faced by the Indian National Congress following the results of the four Vidhan Sabha elections," the resolution read.

The party's commitment to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act assumes significance as it comes days after a violent protest against a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal claimed four lives.

Also, a court in Ajmer, known the world over as the home of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti's dargah visited by thousands of devotees cutting across religious divides every day, has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on a plea seeking to declare the shrine a temple.

The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act prohibits changing the character of religious places from how they existed on August 15, 1947.

However, the Supreme Court had noted that it had earlier dealt with the Act in its 2019 Ayodhya verdict and one of the law's provisions -- section 3 -- did not expressly bar ascertaining the religious character of a place of worship.

On May 20, 2022, the top court made oral observations while hearing a dispute involving the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and said ascertaining the religious character of a place of worship was not barred under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act.